The Painful Truth
by CoffeeFiendTM
Summary: It's been two years since his battle with Spinel and all is bright in beach city. The now 18-year-old feels that he has nothing to worry about. He's grown taller, his relationships stronger, and his love for connie deepening. However, he discovers a lone secret that should have never resurfaced in the universe. This secret could very well change the person he thought he was.
1. Summary

It's been two years since his battle with Spinel and all is bright in beach city. The now 18-year-old feels that he has nothing to worry about. He's grown taller, his relationships stronger, and his love for connie deepening. However, he discovers a lone secret that should have never resurfaced in the universe. This secret could very well change the person he thought he was.

This was supposed to be his happily ever after but now it's something much more sinister. Will Steven finally be able to take on one of his biggest challenges yet?

Will he be able to win the battle...against himself?


	2. 1 Shattered Glass

The cool night breeze blew across the sands of beach city. Everyone, human and gem alike, were either enjoying their time together or already asleep in their beds, awaiting the next day. Away from the city, where a giant fusion temple sat, was a home built on the beach, lights out and seemingly no one around. The rooms were quiet, save for the hum of the fridge and the snoring of a tired grown man who slept on the couch.

On the second floor was a staircase that led outside to a dome like room detached from the house. In it were layers of papers scattered across the floor, along with a few moving boxes and books containing information on gems, galaxies, and planets. All seemed calm. All seemed empty.

Suddenly, there was a shift in the air and a portal of pink and blue hues opened up into the center of the room. The sound of roaring pierced the quiet before lion jumped out into the room, his fur and mane a brilliant rose tint. His eyes were a bright white before the portal closed and they turned back to normal. A small, deep chuckle filled the room before a boy with his thick, curly hair tied into a ponytail stood, releasing his hold from around lions neck. He dropped his backpack and stood, towering over the feline who once stood over him.

Steven turned and held his hand out to a girl with beautiful dark skin and a dark braid that now ended at her back. She smiled and took it graciously as she stepped off of lions back, also dropping her backpack in the process. Now free, lion yawned and walked over to his bed before falling onto it and took no time before he began snoring loudly.

"We really took him far didn't we?" Connie said softly as she stared at him. Steven rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"Yeah, we'll give him a break until we clean up the planet we just left. Now that the warp pad is fixed, we won't need to wear him out," Connie felt a blush cover her face as she watched him take out the band holding his hair together, releasing the long curls and letting them fall onto his shoulders. She couldn't help but notice how it only took two more years for him to stand taller than her and she had to admit; she loved it. He picked up his bag and walked over to their operation table, touching a floating crystal and making it dimly light up the room.

She followed his example, also bringing her bag and dumping out the contents next to his. They had spent nearly two weeks on this foreign planet, collecting samples of life and helping the gems who were unable to leave or understand what was happening in the universe around them. Connie touched a few keys on the table and opened up a filing system that held over fifty folders of galaxies they discovered and visited.

"Which galaxy was that planet in?" she asked, as she swiped through them all.

"Galaxy uh..." Steven said as he shifted through their notes, trying to organize them. "37...38...wait a second." Connie grinned in amusement as he opened a digital map and leaned over it, his hair falling into his face as he dragged his finger over it. "We went this way...and then cut here...Ah! Galaxy 35!" he laughed. "I was pretty off target."

"That's okay," Connie giggled as she opened the galaxy 35 folder and created a new file, naming it _Planet 3F. _"There's a lot of galaxies and planets to keep up with. So far we have 58 planets for this galaxy alone." Steven looked at her in shock before letting out a deep sigh.

They still had so much more of the universe to uncover.

"I can't believe that so many gems are scattered so far out!" he exclaimed as he laid out their notebooks.

"Yeah but isn't it amazing?!" Connie reached her hand out to cover Steven's. On impulse, he turned it over to hold her's back, his chest warming at her touch. "This means we have more room to create society's that they can live in. They can finally live in peace!"

"It is amazing..." he agreed softly before they both went back to work. "This planet was deep water based and nearly 80% was inhabited by pearls. The other 20% were Aquamarine."

"Yet the pearls were still overrun..." Connie commented as she input the information. Steven could only gaze at the paper as he remembered what they first arrived to.

The pearls on that planet were suffering and even though they were huge in numbers, their spirits were worn since they still functioned under the pretest that they were meant to serve. It only took Steven three days to show them that they no longer had to be slaves and that both gems could live in harmony but even after two weeks, a majority of the gems were too afraid to change their ways. He even had to bubble a few pearls to save them from being shattered by the blue fairy-like gems. Not even his status as a diamond was enough to deter them.

"We'll let Pearl know of the planet and then maybe she can go and persuade the other pearls to change and understand. Until then, we may need to test and see if they can live on the same planet together without...going back to their old ways," he sighed before continuing his hand off of information. Once they finished, they closed their index and organized their things. Connie took both notebooks and labeled them with the galaxy and planet number before putting them in her bag.

"To the library?" she asked with a small smile. Steven smiled back and nodded before they walked over to the warp. He took her hand in his and beamed them to the moon base, where they had made it into their personal library. Steven watched as Connie gently released his hand and walked over the bookshelves that now lined the base walls. She placed the notebooks on the bookshelf that belonged to galaxy 35, next to the hundreds of previous notebooks already filled out with information.

"Alright, let's go see how their doing now that we aren't there." Steven and Connie both took the floating steps to the top of the base, pink's mural catching Steven's eye for a split second. He let Connie take the seat while he activated the observation orb. Connie inputed the information and they both waited as the room changed and shifted until they were placed back on the planet they left only moments ago.

Connie silently watched Steven as his expression took on one of shock and disbelief. The planet was now covered with shatter gems of white and blue. A war had broken out only in the minute they left, leaving behind chaos and ruin. Just as Connie had said, the Pearl's were bigger in number and seemed to have overpowered the Aquamarines, shattering them without mercy. Steven felt his legs weaken and a tear escaped his eye as he watched the final Aquamarine be shattered, leaving the planet begging for mercy. Connie placed her face in her hands to escape the image while the Pearl's raised their weapons and voices in salvation.

"What have I done..." Steven whispered as he gripped his shirt where his heart was. "It only took a few minutes...and an entire race that was on that planet is...gone..."

"Steven..." Connie stood and walked over to him, taking his closed fist in her hands. "This isn't your fault. We...we'll always run into gems who...won't be able to understand what's happening...I mean, we have before and-

"But it never got this far!" He snapped, cutting her off. He gasped and looked at Connie with a shameful expression. "I'm sorry...I..." he took her face in his hands and pulled her close for comfort, hugging her tightly. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. "I just feel like the fight will never end. With every new planet we discover, more and more gems start to rebel and go straight to fighting rather then coming together. I just dont understand." He pulled away and leaned his forehead on hers, his eyes closed and still flowing with tears. "Is it me? A-am I doing this whole...unity thing wrong? Is it...is it because I have her gem?"

"Of course it isn't you, Steven," Steven opened his eyes to gaze into Connie's, full of nothing but love and support. "You liberated so many gems and brought peace to the galaxy!" Connie placed her hands on Steven's cheeks, making sure to hold his gaze. "You're amazing."

Steven gave Connie a warm smile before placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Both teens blushed before they turned their sights to the scene around them. They watched as one pearl raised her staff in the air and pointed towards the warp pad. Connie and Steven couldn't hear what she was saying but they both had the same gut feeling.

They were going to start a war.

"Oh no," Steven panicked and took off down the stairs. Connie also took off after him, both hoping to reached the planet in time. "Hurry, hurry!" He stood in the middle of the pad, his hand out stretched to her. As soon as she gripped his, they were beamed away, leaving behind the moonbase. Steven held Connie close in the light beam, his gaze set to their destination. She couldnt help but feel safe in his arms as they wrapped around her, securing her to his chest.

Just as fast as they had left, they landed, coming face to face with a hoard of pearls with brandished weapons and determined expressions.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what are you guys doing?!" Steven stepped off the warp pad and stood between it and the gems, who stood back in slight shock.

"Step aside, diamond!" The lead pearl said as she flipped her long, peach colored hair and pointed her weapon at him threateningly. "We're going to free every pearl in the galaxy and _shatter _the gems who controlled us for so long!" They began to walk forward but Connie moved to stand beside Steven, taking up a defensive stance.

"Stop!" Steven demanded, his voice ringing out across the crowd. For a second, the Pearl's stopped walking, hesitating after hearing a command from a gem of such high authority. However, the lead pearl recovered first, gritting her teeth in annoyance.

"Aren't you the one who said that we were free?" She walked until she stood chest to chest with Steven, looking up into his eyes. "Didn't you say that we no longer needed to follow any more orders?! That's so _typical_ of a diamond to go back on their word!"

"I _meant_ what I said!" Steven said strongly, holding his hands up in a show of surrender. "You _are _free! You're all free to live your life the way you want but that doesn't mean going around and _shattering_ other gems!"

"Why?!" She shouted as her eyes began to fill with tears of frustration. "They shattered us _everyday!_" The other Pearl's raised their voices in agreement. "They treated us as if we were _nothing_! They treated her...as if she were nothing..." her voice wavered and Steven's heart began to ache as he realized she must have been in love with another pearl. Before he could say anything, she quickly wiped her eyes before glaring at him. He didn't even see when her weapon had now become dangerously closed to his neck. "And you're no exception..._diamond. _After all," she moved her weapon down to the bottom of his shirt and lifted it to reveal his gem. "_This _isthe one who gave those commands..."

"What..." He felt his voice fail to leave his body as the expression on the Pearl's face shifted to one of disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

"Huh..." Pearl shook her head before smiling. "Don't play dumb! You know exactly what I'm talking about. Pink Diamond's play planet!"

"You mean...the garden where she left Spinel?" Connie spoke up. At first, they were met with silence before the Pearl's burst into laughter as one. Peach Pearl even had to clutch her stomach from the convulsions.

"The—the garden she said!" Another round of laughter cut through as Steven and Connie watched on in shock. "You–you have no _idea_ do you?!" In anger, she stabbed her staff into the ground and placed her hands around her gem that was settled into her chest. Steven and Connie watched as a holographic image appeared, showing that of a planet made of rock. It was about the same size as the garden, however, there was enough room for a small temple. "We call it her play planet but it was really her _practice_ planet."

"I...I still don't–" Steven said but an infuriating shout cut him off. From the crowd emerged a pearl with one eye, the other with a gem in place.

"Take them!" she demanded, slamming her own staff into the ground in anger. "Show them _exactly_ what happened on that _dreadful_ floating rock!" Shouts of agreement rose, echoing throughout the air. Peach Pearl narrowed her eyes and made the holograph disappear before picking up her weapon.

"Well..." she asked, waiting for Steven and Connie's answer. The pair looked at one another, gaging one another's certainty of the situation.

"It may be the only way we can stop this chaos before it starts..." Connie said. Steven thought it over before sighing and nodding. There weren't many other options.

"Okay..." he looked back at Peach Pearl. "Take us there."

"Follow me–"

"Just one condition!" Steven cut her off. She waited for him to continue. "No rebelling! I don't want any pearls leaving this planet to cause destruction across the universe. Seriously, I'm doing my best to clean up my mother's wrongdoings. I promise I'll fix everything. I–I just need time!"

Grumbles filled the crowd before Peach Pearl raised her hand for silence. Like they were trained to do, their voices ceased and Peach Pearl nodded in agreement. Steven and Connie sighed in relief before following the pearl to the warp pad.

"This may be something...you'll _never_ be able to fix." Peach Pearl said before they were beamed away.

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It only took close to a minute for the three to arrive at the planet and when they stepped off the warp pad and looked around, they couldn't believe what they saw. First was the collapsed rocks, molded and mossy from years of neglect. Scattered across the ground was glass of many colors, shimmering in the light of the closest star. Without saying a word, Peach Pearl slowly walked down the cracked path that had vines growing from underneath.

"This...is the practice planet...and these," she bent down and picked up a light orange glass shard. "Are the remains...of off colored pearls...off colors like me..."

"I..." Steven felt his chest begin to tighten as he slowly pieced everything together. "This can't be...there's no way."

"Look ahead," Peach Pearl said. Steven and Connie both looked further down the path to a stone temple that was crumbling away. "That...is the processing temple. Pink Diamond would come to my planet...the _Pearl Farm_ as the diamonds called it...and take off colored pearls by the dozen and bring them here...where she would use them as practice targets for her rebellion army..." Peach Pearl gripped the shard in her hand and faced them, tears brimming in her eyes. "She would come to us as Rose Quartz and say that we would be hand picked to _join _her in making history. To change the universe for the _better!" _Her voice began to rise, echoing across the dome covered area. "We _thought_ we were escaping to a better life...for a greater cause! Instead we were blindly following a _murderer _to our deaths!" Connie covered her mouth with her hands in shock as Steven could only shake his head in disbelief.

"How did you..."

"Find out?!" Peach Pearl shouted angrily. "We found out because she _missed_ one," she smiled before a painful laugh escaped her. "Can you _believe _that? The great and divine Pink Diamond _missed_ shattering a measly pearl!" Without warning, her gem glowed before another holograph filled the air. It was of a pearl with cranberry skin and dark hair, running towards the other pearls on the farm. "She was only physically hurt but her gem wasn't destroyed. She formed back just in time to see the last rebellious gem leave and Rose Quartz change back into Pink Diamond. She was able to come back once this planet was cleared and made her way back to us...back to me..." Steven watched as tear streamed down Peach Pearls face. "She _escaped _and told us _everything. _We couldn't believe it...until Rose Quartz came back."

Steven felt all the air leave his lungs as Rose Quartz appeared on the warp pad with a smile. All the pearls stood, gazing at her with fake smiles as she spoke among the crowd. However, she stopped talking when she noticed the cranberry pearl and Steven could swear he saw her eyes narrow. After she finished her speech, she went back to the warp pad and left without taking anymore pearls.

"Why didn't she take anyone?" Connie whispered.

"Because she was coming back...as her true self," The images began to speed up until once again, a beam of light appeared on the warp and standing tall with an armada of Aquamarine, was Pink Diamond; a chilling smile on her face.

"No..." Steven said softly as he watched his mother calmly walk onto the farm and head straight for the cranberry pearl. With a flick of her hand, she ordered two Aquamarine to grab the pearl and drag her to the warp. He watched as Peach Pearl cried out and tried to save her but was stopped by Pink Diamond, who only stood in front of her with a smile. The fear in Peach Pearls eyes was so strong, Steven could feel it. They all watched as the Aquamarines took the pearl to the warp and beamed her away. With a soft command, the aquamarines scattered, wreaking havoc upon the pearls. Some ended up shattered or with cracked gems while most were rounded up into straight lines and columns.

"We were told...that anyone who stood behind Rose Quartz would be destroyed...what she didn't know was that we knew who she was all along." The holograph disappeared, leaving behind an empty space and silence. All three had tears in their eyes. "She knew that my pearl was one she had previously picked...and tried to stop her from spreading the truth by...having her shattered...she..." her voice wavered and she took a deep breath to try to hold in her emotions, however, they spilled out, overflowing onto the ground. "She was my _everything!" _Her cries filled the air and she slumped to the ground, her pain spreading like wild fire. "We dreamed of a life together! We smiled at the thought of never leaving each others side...and she..." she looked up from her hands, glaring at Steven belly where the gem was. "She took that away from us!"

"Pearl, I–" Steven began but was caught off guard when her weapon appeared and she aimed for his stomach. He quickly formed a shield in front of himself and he and Connie jumped back out of range. "Wait! I understand that you're angry but just _listen–_"

"I'M TIRED OF LISTENING TO YOU DIAMONDS!" She twirled her staff, taking up a battle stance; her eyes glaring at him with malice. "I'll avenger her! Here and now! Even if I have to be shattered in the process." Steven gritted his teeth and jumped out of the way as she leapt for him. Just as he dodged, Connie took his place, slapping the weapon away and aiming a kick at Peach Pearl's stomach. The blow landed, causing the gem to grunt in pain as she caught her footing. With a battle cry, she ran towards Connie, aiming to kill.

"We can talk this out!" Connie jumped back and Steven blocked a flurry of attacks from Peach Pearl. "You're not the only one my mom has hurt but if we just stop fighting and–"

"SHUT! UP!" They watched as she jumped into the air, doing a series of flips before she created two more versions of herself. Steven watched in a panic as one went after Connie but he knew she could hold her own. He needed to focus on the two who were now attacking him. With a frustrated growl, he used one hand to create his shield while the other bubbled his fist. "I'll destroy you! I'll destroy you and then..." they both charged at Steven, weapons raised. "I'll destroy myself!" A gasp escaped Steven and his falter caused his shield to slightly weaken. This was enough to let her get her weapon through but Steven side stepped her attacked. However, he didn't do it fast enough and his shirt and skin underneath were cut.

He fell to one knee for a split second before his wound healed and he was able to make his shield appear again, blocking another attacked. He glanced over at Connie, who was in a stand off with the fake pearl, breathing heavily. She didn't have any protective gear on and no weapons. She might as well have just been another helpless human. With a frustrated grunt, he made up his mind.

"All right, since you won't listen I have no choice," he exclaimed as he made the bubble on his fist form spikes. Peach Pearl saw this, her expression changing to one of fear before she laughed.

"Once a diamond, _always _a diamond!" That comment made Steven's heart ache before he leapt forward and quickly took out the fake pearl with one much to her side. He glanced at Connie once more to see her locked into battle, dodging every weapon swipe she could. Her body was covered in bruises and cuts, causing a red liquid to slowly drip down her arms and face. Just as Steven was going to help her, he felt the butt of Peach Pearl's weapons hit him in his cheek. A hot feeling covered his face as he was forced to focus back on her. With a huff of air, Steven ran forward, catching Peach Pearl off guard. He first swung with his shield but she blocked it. Using that as leverage, he spun around until he was behind her and with an apologetic expression, he slammed his fist into her back. With a final grunt of shock and pain, her entire being turned into a puff of smoke and Steven caught her gem just before it fell to the concrete. Peach Pearl's double also disappeared now that its base was gone.

Connie breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground, sweat dripping down her face. Her entire body felt like it was on fire and she flinched as she tried to stand back up. Steven quickly bubbled Peach Pearl's gems and sent it away to the temple before he hurried over to Connie.

"I'm so sorry, Connie," he said as he took her arm in his hands and began to tenderly kiss her wounds. Even though this was normal for them, Connie still couldn't help but blush as she felt his lips press to her skin. However, she quickly forgot about her feelings as she watched tears stream down his face. "I knew this was my fault...my _mom's _fault." He handled her gently as he finished one arm and moved to the next. "I hate that I have to put you through this every time we run into an issue."

"Steven..." she said softly. He continued to placed soft kissed on her arms and she placed her hand on his cheek to capture his attention. "Biscuit...you don't put me through anything. I do this because I love to be with you. To be by your side." She used her thumb to wipe the water from his eye. "No matter what, I'll be here for you, always. So, don't ever feel bad about things like this, okay?"

"I just..." he caressed her freshly healed arm before turning his gaze to her face. "I hate to see you in pain."

"Then you better heal me up quickly," she joked, causing a smile to form on his face.

"Of course," he replied before placing a kiss on the first wound on her cheek.


End file.
